While Jason Dufner was playing his back nine on Thursday during the first round of the PGA Championship, he called over his wife, Amanda, and handed her five or six acorns he'd picked from the ground. "Keep finding some," he told her.

Married 14 months ago, they're building a home on 50 acres of land they bought in Auburn, Ala. "He wants to try to grow some oak trees out there," Amanda said, "which would be really, really special now." That's because Jason Dufner did something special on Sunday at Oak Hill Country Club. The 36-year-old broke through to win his first major championship and a $1,445,000 check by outdueling veteran Jim Furyk down the stretch to win by two strokes and end a spectacular week at Oak Hill. From Dufner's course-record score of 63 on Friday to record-breaking crowds, Rochester shined.

"They love their golf here in Rochester, there's no doubt about it," Dufner said. "It's great to win in front of these folks."

Years from now, the Dufners will look at those growing oak trees and remember what happened at Oak Hill. The acorns, those tiny pieces of Pittsford, will become part of their life, and now Dufner has a permanent place in Rochester golf history. His face — likely expressionless, as it always seems to be — will be on a plaque on the back wall of the Oak Hill clubhouse with legends such as Hogan and Trevino and Nicklaus, men who won past majors at the East Course.

"I have a lot of respect for him and the way he played," Furyk said of Dufner.

And Rochester once again earned the respect of golf fans from all over the world, as Sunday capped a year like no other. No city had ever hosted LPGA and PGA major championships in the same year. Rochester did, and did it well.

"The reception we've had from Rochester and the state of New York has been unbelievable," said Pete Bevacqua, the first-year CEO of the PGA of America.

When asked if the PGA would bring more events here in the future, Bevacqua was non-committal, but would anyone argue if it did? Attendance was strong all week and the 30,000-plus crowds on Saturday and Sunday were the biggest for the PGA Championship since it began scanning tickets in 2009. The PGA never releases exact figures.

"The crowd flow and management and (course) layout has been the best of any we've been at," said Jeannie Edfort of Reading, Pa., who with her husband, Ed, has attended two U.S. Opens and last year's Ryder Cup.

Mike Zimmer and his family and friends had all week. Zimmer, 53, owns a home with a backyard that overlooks the No. 2 tee and No. 1 green. Saturday was the big day, as the Zimmers entertained about 80 guests. They got close to the action by using small step ladders or standing on a makeshift scaffold to see over the fence.

Zimmer, an Oak Hill member, said he wouldn't like to see Oak Hill host a PGA Tour event annually. "It's more special as a major," Zimmer said. "It's great for the community, great for Rochester."

It was great for the Dufners, too. Jason toiled on the minor-league golf circuit for more than a decade before emerging in 2011, when he lost the PGA Championship to another relative unknown, Keegan Bradley. They are buddies now, and needle each other a lot. Bradley also helped popularize the term "Dufnering."

He's not so emotionless away from the course. "He's a really, really funny guy," she said.

Amanda gathered about 30 acorns and stuck them in a ziplock bag. She'll bring those and a small sapling Oak Hill general manager Dan Farrell gave to the Dufners back to Alabama.